Classic car enthusiasts gathered in London yesterday for a rally to protest against the passing of another piece of the dwindling British car industry.

Hundreds of TVR sports car owners showed their support for workers at the Blackpool plant, which is being closed and production shifted overseas. Around 260 people will lose their jobs.

In a last ditch effort to keep production in Britain, a petition was handed to Number 10 Downing Street calling on the government to investigate all options for keeping TVR in Blackpool.

TVR, owned by the Russian businessman Nikolai Smolensky, said last month it would shut the plant and move production to mainland Europe. It halted production two weeks ago. Output at the factory had fallen from around 15 cars a week to between six and 10. Already 158 workers have been laid off.

In a statement accompanying the decision last month, Mr Smolensky said it was the only way "to secure the future of the company". TVR was founded in Blackpool in 1947 by Trevor Wilkinson as Trevcar Motors. Mr Smolensky bought the business in 2004.

The rally followed one in Blackpool. The enthusiasts joined forces through an internet forum, pistonheads.com.

A spokesman for the Transport & General Workers Union, which represents TVR employees, said it was a "tremendous gesture of support" for the Blackpool workers. "The owners are to be applauded for their efforts."

Dave Chant, one of the rally organisers and a TVR driver, said: "TVR is the last major manufacturer of true race-bred sports cars left in Britain. The skills and crafmanship of the people who build these machines will be lost forever if production is moved abroad."

There had been hopes earlier this year that production would be maintained in Blackpool but at a smaller site.